Parts of Burnaby, the North Shore and Langley saw snow Thursday as arctic air blew into British Columbia’s South Coast.

Environment Canada is warning that Metro Vancouver could see “several centimetres” of snowfall before the weekend.

“Precipitation will initially start off as rain and snow levels will gradually fall through the day,” the agency said in a special weather statement issued Thursday. “The cooler air will begin to settle over the higher terrain of the Lower Mainland later this afternoon.”

By Friday morning, even areas at sea level could see some flurries, according to the statement, which includes the majority of the Lower Mainland, as far out as Langley, Delta and Maple Ridge.

Temperatures in Vancouver are expected to reach 6 C on Thursday and drop down to 1 C overnight. On Friday, Environment Canada is forecasting highs of 5 C and a low of -1 C.

Areas further inland such as Hope and Merritt are already under snowfall warnings, with as much as 30 centimetres of snow expected to accumulate before the precipitation tapers off Thursday night.

About 15 centimetres of snow is also expected along the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Squamish to Whistler.

On Thursday morning, snow had already started to accumulate on the Coquihalla Highway and the Sea-to-Sky.

Environment Canada is urging motorists to be prepared and adjust their driving according to the conditions.

“Prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating travel conditions,” the agency said. “Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”

The pre-winter storm comes as the City of Vancouver makes preparations for severe weather following an unusually harsh 2016-17 winter season that broke snowfall records and forced the city to spend 1,000 per cent more than the annual average on response efforts.

In July, Vancouver councillors approved recommendations from engineers to free up more money for road maintenance and to revisit existing penalties for rule breakers.

The report from city staff included doubling the annual snow clearing budget form $780,000 to $1.62 million and investing in additional dump trucks and snow blowers. The plan also includes nearly $1.3 million of salt storage expansion after the city was criticized for its shortage of road salt last year.

The weather warnings have drivers equipping their vehicles with winter tires extra early this year.

“In my 19 years, it’s the busiest fall season I have ever seen,” said Jim Baker, the manager at a North Shore Kal Tire location.

TransLink is also taking precautions in case of a harsh winter, including equipping bus tires with “snow socks” that improve traction.

“All these little threads act like micro grippers and they…cause friction between the tire and ice or snow and slush,” said engineer Simon Agnew.

The SkyTrain is also being winterized with elements that produce heat and prevent ice from forming on the rails on the Canada Line.

The latest weather information is available on the Environment Canada website or the agency’s Twitter feed.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson and Breanna Karstens-Smith